On The Menu: Flying Asian Carp
You may not be aware of one of the most dangerous invasive species in America. So let me introduce you to the Asian carp, the flying carp, the silverfin. In a cautionary tale about ecological arrogance, Asian carp were deliberately brought to the United States during the 1970s to help clean up pollution in fish farms. Industry assured us they could not escape (of course not! What could go wrong?). We were also reassured that these fish couldn’t successfully reproduce in American waters (of course not! What could go wrong?). Except, as it happens, Asian carp can make it just fine in U.S. waters. Ooops.
In fact they do so well, they out compete almost every native fish in our own waters and have almost no natural predators. Some tributaries and rivers in the Midwest now have 95% of the biomass of the river composed of Asian carp! Read that again. It is not a typo. 95% of the biomass is carp. The plankton they eat makes up much of the other 5%.
This carp’s advantages include its size and its method of eating. While it is capable of feeding conventionally through its mouth, every silver carp also has sponge-like pads on its gills that filter out tiny zooplankton and phytoplankton and they use this material as food. The principle is similar to feeding in baleen whales. Every time this fish breathes, it eats. The carp eat the plankton...and everything else; everything in sight, but if there is nothing but plankton, they're okay with that too.
Baby silver carp hide in thick cover and grow bigger and bigger until there isn’t anything in the neighborhood except for a bald eagle that could even consider tackling them. Carp weighing 50 pounds are not unusual on the Missouri River.
Now get this: The strain introduced to America is spooked by the sound of a motor. They jump out of the water, rendering recreational use (except for carping) impossible.
Close to $200 million has been spent on barriers to keep the carp out of The Great Lakes. The economic toll of destruction of fishing and recreational use already far exceeds that. But it gets worse. These voracious monsters are just at the front door of Lake Michigan. Should they significantly cross into the Great Lakes system, it could be a catastrophe.
While some strides have been made in creating a market for fishing, they have been largely confined to the Midwest and hampered by the extreme difficulty butchering these fish. While they are delicious, and indeed a delicacy in Asia, they have a complex skeletal structure and so, without a great deal of skill, they are hard to de-bone. Fortunately, we have a great deal of culinary skill. We've been working for almost two years to figure this fish out and to get it butchered how we need it. The fish is sublime and we're going to eat it.
We are so good at eating fish to near-extinction, why not try it where that would be a good thing!
Asian Carp with Mirin-Bacon Broth
Salmon Mushroom Dumplings, Potato and Pepino Mushrooms
Stage Left $28
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